1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods for monitoring, analyzing and reporting a vehicle, such as, for example, aircraft, data.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of computers has expanded the scope of maintenance-related monitoring and reporting of vehicle data, such as, for example, aircraft data, especially the reporting of malfunction or fault information. Fault information may be used to determine which vehicle systems and components require further testing and/or observation by, for example, flight crew or maintenance personnel; and/or replacement or repair. Fault information generally is based on the crews' observations and maintenance personnel analysis, using maintenance manuals and operator initiated testing. However, because fault information determinations are highly dependent upon crew member observation, crew member memory and crew member analysis, these are relatively inefficient and unreliable.
To facilitate the maintenance of an aircraft, most aircraft systems now are made up in part of components that can be removed and replaced quickly. These components are called Line Replaceable Units (LRUs). An LRU is a highly complex module often incorporating several data processors for controlling and/or monitoring one or more components or systems of an aircraft. An LRU may be provided to monitor and/or control one or more devices such as an actuator, valve, motor, pump, etc., associated with a particular component or assembly of a vehicle, such as, for example, an aircraft. An LRU identifies faults during operation in flight, and requires the integration of multiple fault data to independently report the fault source, i.e., a specific component or assembly. An LRU typically also generates output signals which are monitored to determine if the component is not operating properly.
As the number of aircraft systems that make use of LRUs has increased and as aircraft systems have become more complex, so has the volume of maintenance information. The volume of information makes it difficult for the flight crews and ground crews to obtain the specific information they need to analyze and diagnose causes of identified faults. Thus, a system to collect and consolidate the voluminous fault information is needed. One such system is based on a centralized scheme for fault data collection and analysis. In that system, the LRUs are recorded on a Quick Access Recorder (QAR). The QAR records the information from the multiple LRUs and other components which are monitored, and stores the monitored information on a medium, such as, for example, a high density optical storage disc. In that system, the LRU data from multiple LRUs is automatically collected during flight or at the end of the flight, and analyzed by the maintenance personnel to determine repair of faulty component(s), if needed.
An example of a system that utilizes a QAR can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,656 to Sudolsky, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein in its entirety. The system in Sudolsky records and reports fault information pertaining to various components of an aircraft. The method of Sudolsky involves recording a large, diverse amount of information output from various LRUs and other components of the aircraft during takeoff, flight, and landing through the use of a bulk storage device, such as an optical quick access recorder (QAR), onto an electronic data storage medium, specifically an optical storage disk. The optical storage disk is then removed from the aircraft after landing and the information read by an appropriate apparatus. Based on this information, maintenance personnel attempt to determine whether or not a fault indication recorded during flight is a legitimate fault requiring the affected LRU to be removed from the aircraft for further diagnostic testing. Although, this method reduces the incidence of no-fault diagnostic test results, and saves man hours which would otherwise be spent testing LRUs and other components which are in fact operating properly, this method uses expensive, proprietary equipment that is permanently installed on the aircraft, and which requires extensive certification processes by a maintenance crew. Further, this system requires a highly-skilled maintenance crew to board the aircraft after the flight and download the recorded LRU fault information.